Some ordinary vehicles, such as passenger automobiles, have a side airbag apparatus mounted therein. The side airbag apparatus inflates and deploys a side airbag in the side of a seat. A vehicle having a side airbag apparatus mounted therein is described in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-179820.
The side airbag apparatus described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-179820 includes an inflator that supplies gas to a side airbag (hereinafter simply referred to as a “bag”) on the side of a seat in a compartment. A side door is disposed on an outboard side of the seat. The side door includes a door outer panel, a door inner panel, and a door trim made of plastic. The door trim includes an article container portion. When a vehicle collides with another object and if the side airbag apparatus operates, gas is supplied from the inflator to the bag and, therefore, the bag is inflated and deployed between the seat and the side door. A blocking member is provided at a point of the article receiving portion with which the bag is brought into contact. Thus, the deployed bag is blocked from entering a recess formed by the article container portion by the blocking member.
However, when the bag is deployed and if the bag is brought into contact with the door trim, a force that urges the door trim outwardly in the vehicle width direction is exerted. If the door trim is deformed outwardly in the vehicle width direction due to such a force, the bag bulges outwardly in the vehicle width direction. Even in such a case, the bag is required to be inflated into a shape that is optimum to protect an occupant. In particular, if a large operation opening used for attaching a window regulator is formed in a door inner panel, it is desirable that the door trim not be deformed and displaced to the inside of the operation opening due to the pressing force at a point of the door trim with which the bag is brought into contact. To more appropriately deploy a bag, further improvement is required.
Accordingly, the present application provides a technology that allows a side airbag to inflate into an optimum deployment shape.